Retired colonel Pierre LeBlanc … says Canada faces an increasing number of risks to its security from Russia, China and even the U.S., but has failed to invest in strategic defence to deter adversaries.

“This is the worst I have seen in terms of the security of Canada given what’s going on worldwide,” LeBlanc, who is also an Arctic security consultant, said.

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It comes as Canada is amping up defence investments in the Arctic due to geopolitical changes: Russia’s and China’s growing ambition in the Arctic, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s plans to spend tens of billions on defence infrastructure, the push to develop critical minerals in the North, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to Greenland and Canada.

But LeBlanc and other defence experts say while these exercises and investments are crucial, they aren’t enough to deter adversaries or defend the nation.

In fact, these experts argue Canada is already in a period of conflict.

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“Russia and China believe themselves to be in conflict and at war with us. They just think about war and conflict very differently than we do. So if we think we are not in a conflict with China and Russia, we need to wake up and we need to think again,” [says Christian Leuprecht, an expert in security and defence who teaches at the Royal Military College of Canada and Queen’s University].

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